Groves Drills Cox In 4 To Set Up Eubank Jnr Semi-Final

By Steven Bateson

George Groves finished Jamie Cox with a brutal bodyshot in the fourth round of the World Boxing Super Series quarter final, retaining his WBA Super Middleweight Championship in the process.

It was a barnstorming start from both fighters as Cox closed the distance quickly and looked to tee off on Groves, who has shown susceptibility in the past. But Groves was not intimidated in the slightest and chose to stand with Cox and trade. A left from Cox on the ropes seemed to stun Groves but then the challenger dropped his guard and walked straight into Groves’ trademark right hand.

The relentless pace continued into the second and both men stood toe to toe and started to swing for the fences, desperate to take the head off of their foe. Groves had his right hand cocked as usual and landed it twice in round two, seemingly giving Cox a little to think about, but then the challenger answered back with his own barrage.

Groves was landing shots to the body throughout, clearly setting up for the finish, and in the third it as clear that the pace in Cox had dropped already. He did land a nice left hand, rocking back Groves’ head, but the champion responded with a vicious right uppercut and more counter shots. Cox was starting to fall short with his work, Groves’ showcasing his boxing IQ, and in the fourth round he left himself wide open for a crunching right hook to the solar plexus that folded him up and left him down and out. Cox gave it his all but Groves was too big and too savvy for him in the end, the lack of experience from the challenger told and Groves’ impressive streak under Shane McGuigan continues.

Groves will now meet Chris Eubank Jnr in a huge domestic dustup early in the new year for a place in the final of the inaugural WBSS.

John Ryder produced a career best performance and victory, stunning Denmark’s Patrick Nielsen with a fifth round knockout. Nielsen, the WBA #1 ranked challenger, was expected to have too much for Ryder but never got into the fight and was completely outclassed by the British fighter. Ryder dropped Nielsen in round two with a brilliant left to the body and right hook upstairs combination and despite the Dane beating the count he was always on the backfoot from there. Ryder continued to bully his foe and then a huge right hook in round five sent Nielsen’s mouthpiece flying to the canvass. Nielsen was out on his feet, resembling a cast member of the Walking Dead, and could not even defend himself against the follow up left hand and right uppercut that left him sprawled on the deck. Ryder, who has four defeats from each time he has stepped up in class before this, makes a big statement here tonight against a man who was a substitute for the World Boxing Super Series in the case of an injury. There will be another big fight in the offing now at 168lbs for the man they call the "Gorilla".

Surrey’s Jonny Phillips claimed an impressive first round knockout over previously unbeaten Nathaneal Wilson. Wilson, son of Chris Eubank Snr, was boxing comfortably in the early stages but chose to throw punches with Phillips and was taken out by a flush counter left hook. Wilson was all over the place and despite making his feet before the count it was deemed by the referee that he was in no position to continue.

Louis Adolphe lost his unbeaten record on a first round disqualification against Nathan McIntosh. London’s Adolphe had been receiving some media hype and attention in the run up to this fight but he landed a devastating blow to his opponent after the referee had said break, giving the official no choice but to end the contest right there. Adolphe’s back was turned to the referee at the time of the call however it was clearly audible and allowed a completely free shot at McIntosh and I don’t think there can be any dispute over the ruling, Adolphe may find himself in very hot water because of this one depending on how lenient the governing bodies feel.

Cruiserweight, Mikael Lawal’s second round knockout of Tomislav Rudan will take some beating for knockout of the night or even weekend. Stonebridge’s Lawal (now 4-0 with 3 KO’s) caught Rudan with a beautiful, crunching counter right uppercut that starched the Croatian clean.

Kian Thomas completely dominated his four rounder over Ferenc Katona to extend his unbeaten ledger to 8-0, finally ending the bout in the last stanza. Katona displayed real guts and bravery to stay in there with Thomas after being under heavy fire from the opening bell but he just could not quite go the distance, finally succumbing to a big right hand. Thomas’ jab was the key, for a near novice it is on point, and it allowed him to build some very impressive combinations and eye-catching work. There’ll be bigger tests for Thomas than Romanian journeyman but it was still an impressive display.